Kitchen-fork.



0. B. PONTIOUS.

KITCHEN FORK.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 2, 1912 1,083,296. Patented Jan. 6, 1914.

WITNESSES:

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

OLIVER E. PONTIOUS, OF TOLEDO, OHIO, ASSIG-NOR TO WILLIAM E. BROWN ANDCHARLES PAYNE, OF TOLEDO, OHIO.

KITCHEN-FORK.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed. August 2, 1912.

Patented Jan. 6, 1914. Serial No. 712,833.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, OLIVER E. PONTIOUS, a citizen of the United States,residing at Toledo, in the county of Lucas and State of Ohio, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Kitchen-Forks; and I dodeclare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of theinvention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which itappertains to make and use the same, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, and to the letters and figures of referencemarked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

My invention is designed to provide a fork with means for dislodgingfrom its tines anything impaled upon or carried by the tines, and, moreparticularly, to provide a device of the character indicated which shallentirely dispense with the use of screws, bolts, nuts or other partslikely to become loose and lost or diflicult to be cleansed.

My invention is also designed to provide an attachment for a fork whichmay be instantly attached or detached by means of its own resiliency andwithout the use of a tool of any sort.

To this end my invention consists of the devices, construction andarrangement of parts hereinafter described, and shown and illustrated inthe accompanying drawings, in which- 7 Figure 1 is a top-plan View of mydevice; Fig. 2, a side or edge elevation of the same, and Fig. 3, abottom plan view of the sliding part, hereinafter referred to, detached.

Like numerals of reference indicate like parts throughout the drawings.

In the drawings there is illustrated a fork having tines 1. On thehandle of the fork slides longitudinally thereof a resilient piece 2having one or more short fingers 3 turned inwardly to slide between thetines of the fork. The opposite end of the piece 2 is curved outwardly,as at 4:, to form a thumbpiece by which the piece 2 is moved to and froalong the fork. The piece 2 has at its opposite edges two short flaps 5turned inwardly to form hooks which embrace the edges of the handle ofthe fork. and hold copies of this patent may be obtained for the piece 2in place on the fork-handle. The movement to and fro of the piece 2 islimited by slight shoulders or notches 6 in the edge of the fork-handle.The plate being retracted by the thumb of the operator the fork may beused in the ordinary manner. To dislodge anything held upon the tines ofthe fork it is only necessary that the end of the thumb be pressedagainst the upturned portion 6 to slide the plate 2 forwardly to theposition indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 2.

It will be seen that the plate 2 may be easily slipped to and fro alongthe fork; that anything supported upon the tines of the fork may thus bereadily removed, and that by slightly springing the forward end of thelate 2 upwardly to remove the fingers 3 rom between the fork tines, theplate and the fork may be placed at an angle to each other, as indicatedin dotted lines in Fig. 3 and separated for cleansing. It will also beseen that the device here illustrated and described consists of twopieces which may be cheaply and conveniently formed of only two metalstampings.

Having described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure byLetters Patent is 1'. A fork, a plate broadened at one end and having anelongated portion to conform to the shank of the fork and having at itsforward end one or more inte ral portions turned to project between thetines of the fork, having also at opposite sides hooks adapted to engagethe opposite sides of the shank of the fork and spaced apart in thedirection of the length of the fork, substantially as described.

2. A piece forming a fork, a piece slidable longitudinally thereon andhaving fingers which project between the tines of the fork, one of saidpieces having at opposite margins hooks spaced apart in the direction ofthe length of the fork and which engage the opposite margins of theother piece.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence'of two witnesses.

OLIVER E. PONTIOUS.

Witnesses:

WM. O. BINNS, LEONE KIBURTZ.

five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington,D. G.

